Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on XENE. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, February 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.38.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

XENE stock opened at $34.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.15 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.72 and its 200 day moving average is $39.73. Xenon Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $33.27 and a 52 week high of $46.00.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.05. As a group, analysts forecast that Xenon Pharmaceuticals will post -3.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Xenon Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Ian Mortimer sold 22,468 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total value of $903,213.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,258,340.40. This represents a 41.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 5.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,525,290 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $294,991,000 after purchasing an additional 607,606 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,843,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $151,317,000 after buying an additional 15,226 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP grew its position in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,913,964 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $114,227,000 after buying an additional 206,709 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,866,755 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $112,425,000 after acquiring an additional 314,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in Xenon Pharmaceuticals by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,697,657 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,748,000 after acquiring an additional 253,012 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc, a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutics to treat patients with neurological disorders in Canada. Its clinical development pipeline includes XEN1101, a novel and potent Kv7 potassium channel opener, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders.